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Today’s topics include an analyst report that Apple is slated to rework its entire iPhone lineup in 2017, Foxconn’s success in closing the Sharp takeover, Oracle’s claim that Google owes $9.3 billion for Java copyright violations and Citrix’s Secure Browser offerings enable business employees to safely access Cloud apps.
Major changes to Apple’s iPhone lineup are potentially coming in 2017, including the addition of wireless charging, AMOLED displays and a glass-encased model with a 5.8-inch screen, according to a research note from a KGI Securities analyst.
The report from analyst Ming-Chi Kuo predicts that future iPhones will have a curved display with a glass body mounted on a metal frame, like the earlier iPhone 4. Kuo wrote that the phones “will feature a ‘completely new form factor design’ with more narrow bezels that provide a ‘more comfortably grip.'”
Foxconn is finalizing its takeover of consumer products maker Sharp in a $3.5 billion deal that the electronics parts maker has been pursuing for several years.
The deal, which will help Foxconn expand into the display production market, will be signed on April 2, according to a March 30 story by The Wall Street Journal.
The pending completion of the deal comes just a month after negotiations were held up by last-minute disclosures that Sharp’s future financial liabilities were greater than Foxconn expected, according to an earlier eWEEK story.
Between $1 billion and $9.3 billion—that’s the range a California jury will have to consider in a trial to determine how much Google should pay in damages if it finds the company violated Oracle’s Java copyrights.
Oracle sued Google in 2010 for using certain Java application programming interfaces in its Android mobile operating system without first obtaining a license for the technology from Oracle. At the time, Oracle sought $1 billion in damages from Google.
The case first went to trial in 2012, but it wasn’t until 2014 that a federal appeals court held that the Oracle APIs were protected under the Copyright Act. Now, a federal court jury must decide if Google’s actions constituted fair use as defined under the Copyright Act.
Citrix Systems is making it easier for businesses to securely deliver browser-based applications regardless of what type of Web browser employees use.
The company this month unveiled a family of products that enables any IT organization to deliver Web and software-as-a-service applications to any modern browser without having to install anything on a user’s device.
The new Citrix offering will remove barriers presented by the use of multiple browsers by employees, reduce help desk calls, increase security and limit the use of apps that IT staffs aren’t familiar with, according to Brett Waldman, a product marketing official with Citrix.